Left straight.

Your left straight sails through the air crossing over Lewis' arm in the process. In that brief moment before the hit, you can see the surprise in Lewis' eyes. The taller man goes down like a bag of bricks. The ref slides in between the two of you and begins her count.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

"Six!"

"Seven!"

"Eight!"

"Nine!"

"Ten!"

You fall to your knees as the crowd erupts into noise. "Good job Axel!" Morgan screams.

"Quest Completed"

You don't even have a moment to breathe before the notification pops up, if you had an HP bar you're sure it would be in the red right about now. You look over at Lewis, you're sure he had a quest to win against you.

You imagine the notification disappearing and it blips out of view. You'll catch a breath first, then see what goodies you have in store. Lewis is still on the floor, slowly regaining consciousness, his cornermen rush to him with a flurry of motion. Morgan steps into the ring, "Good going Axel. Knew you wouldn't disappoint." You can barely hear her through the noise of the crowd.

"Glad I could be of service." You stagger over to your side of the ring, every piece of you hurts, ribs, gut, face and all. You don't get a moment to rest, as a crowd of onlookers begin to rush you. You receive a lot of praise and attention due to your spectacular knockout, most of the questions are about how long you've been fighting. Morgan shoos them off eventually, giving the two of you some privacy. Morgan looks you in the eye, "Did you have a quest to fight Lewis?"

Well that was blunt. "I did." You keep it simple. Nothing wrong with having a quest is there?

"And you cleared it just now? By knocking out Lewis?"

"Yeah, a first round knockout was even the special condition." You reply.

Morgan has a bizarre look on her face, excitement and fear. "Is that ethical? I just wonder, that quest only could have one winner. It was a boxing match this time, but what if the rules change? What if it gets more dangerous."

You scratch your head "I don't want to think right now."

"Okay okay, sorry, did what did you get for clearing the quest?" Morgan continues to badger you.

"I haven't accepted the rewards yet, was kind of preoccupied with not passing out." You send a mental command and the notification pops up again. You accept it with a thought.

Quest Complete

The Boxer defeated

+40xp gained

+Champ's Gloves gained

Please choose a new perk.

Stunlock 1: Random chance to stun opponents when using fists in combat. 10% Chance

Powerfist 1: Activate to increase the power of your punching attacks.

Iron skin 1: Activate to increase Endurance

"Well? Well?!" Morgan looks like she's straining her eyes to look at your UI screen. So she can't even see the rewards screen. That's handy at least. "I got a couple of new perks, some xp, and an item." The gloves materialize in your hand with a flash of blue light. The gloves are in MMA style, four ounces and reinforced with metal knuckles and metal plates on the backhand. Morgan's look of astonishment is comical to say the least. A few onlookers notice as well and point. But not many are paying attention, in fact, now that you look around, you can see most people are on their phones. Researching ADVANCE no doubt. It's a smart move, one you should get to. But these gloves, they are special, you can tell right away, just from the way they feel in your hands. You turn the black material of the glove over in your hand and slip it on. It fits like a dream, they make you feel stronger and more durable. The effects of the fight wear on you much less now. Just to make sure you bring up your status screen again and look, sure enough you've got a +2 bonus to both your strength and endurance,. You can also see the glove's stats on a brand new equipment page.

Champ's Gloves

Item Level: 5

You were rewarded these gloves for defeating the Boxer. Champion of the Thunderfist Dojo.

These gloves are enchanted with a spell to bolster the user's strength and endurance stat by 2 points. The metal plates serve on both offense and defense, they also look pretty snazzy!

Keep going.

"What did you just say Morgan?" Did she say that?

"I didn't say anything, was just admiring your new gloves."

"Swear I heard something, clear as bell." You put a hand to your head, that was strange.

"Well, if you want to start hearing voices you're completely welcome to, we have to get back to the Academy though."

"Morgan I look like I've been in a train wreck, how am I supposed to go back to school like this? Where are my clothes even?" You try to stand but your knees still feel wobbly.

Morgan rushes to your aid while grabbing her bag. "I've got them in here big guy, don't worry, the clothes will cover up most of the bruises. Plus with this whole debacle going on with quests and advancing or what not, I'm sure you can make something up."

"Clara is going to be so pissed." You sigh as you put on your flannel and jeans, you've got an unpicked perk sitting in your pocket, you pull up the screen while walking with Morgan. Lewis says goodbye to you personally, thanking you for a good fight and wishing no hard feelings between the two of you. You thank him for the match and leave. Now the difficult choice of picking out a new perk. You don't even think and click on Powerfist. You just want to punch things really hard. That's your build. "I think I'm good now Morgan, these gloves are helping a lot." You manage to walk like a normal person that hasn't been in a brutal boxing match. It was more like a skirmish but whatever. A crank of the shoulder and you're good to go. "What do you think is happening at the academy?" You ask Morgan, she's got a good mind to pick.

"I bet the headmaster is going wild." Morgan laughs into the sky. "He's probably gonna do a branding change, I bet you!" You feel yourself beginning to smile despite all of the confusion surrounding your life. You feel different, powerful, fast, smarter, and more level headed. But a strange part of you also feels that something is slipping away, ever since that snap of intelligence, your emotions don't feel as loud. It's not as if you can't feel them, they're just, diluted by the supreme calm of your logic. Maybe that strange piece was meant to fall away though, you feel at peace right now. "Hey Axel. What do you think about Advance?" Morgan seems to have sensed your dismay.

You walk with her in silence, gathering your thoughts.